Govt says fears over 6-km rule misplaced

Parents in the capital maybe worried about the neighbourhood criteria prescribed in the new nursery admission guidelines,but they have no reason to be,if the Directorate of Education (DoE) is to believed.

Parents in the capital maybe worried about the neighbourhood criteria prescribed in the new nursery admission guidelines,but they have no reason to be,if the Directorate of Education (DoE) is to believed.

According to data collected by the Directorate of Education,parents dont need to fret about the 6-km rule,as good schools are spread across the length and breadth of the city.

The new guidelines allot 70 points for children living within a radius of 6 km of a school,making it the most important factor for admission into pre-primary classes this season. The criterion has met with opposition and led to concerns over children not being able to secure admissions in good schools which are far off.

Others have complained that children,especially those living in unauthorised colonies,may lose out on school education altogether,as schools are usually located more than 6 km away.

There is a general perception that certain areas in the city dont have schools. Or good schools are located only in certain pockets of the city. In some cases,parents are worried about quality of education. But their worry is misplaced. We have enough good schools to address the citys needs Amit Singla,Director,DoE,said.

Figures released by DoE show that as of December 26,there are 1,477 private unaided schools in the capital,with the Northeast district having the highest number of schools at 263. This was followed by West B (204 schools) and South West B (192 schools). New Delhi area has the lowest number of private schools at 13,followed by Central Delhi at 28.

The problem is not the absence of schools,but craze for the so-called good schools,and the specific method  whether aerial or road distance  schools choose to follow to map the locations. But we are hoping the concern will be put to rest with time,when schools identify and list out which areas constitute a 6-km neighbourhood, Singla said.

In the interest of transparency,we have decided to use Google Maps to map neighbourhood,like we have been doing in the case of EWS admissions for the last two years, D R Saini,principal of DPS,RK Puram,said.

We have still not decided on a course of action,but if the new guidelines stay,we will be using Google Maps, Jyoti Arora,principal of Mount Abu Public School,said.

However,there is a fear that using different methods may create confusion.

The government needs to come out with a standard procedure for distance